Vlaardingen Viking Shoes

Vlaardingen Viking Shoes are a cute and comfortable decorated shoe for casual to very serious Viking Age reenactments.  A great addition to any medieval or SCA garb, LARP, Renaissance Fairs, and Cosplay, but also a historically accurate Viking footwear for Men and Women. Perfect for the strictest of reenactment groups.

Product Details :

• Available in RED, BLACK and BROWN (shades may vary)
• Long ties for attractive fastening
• 100% constructed and sewn by hand
• Made of real leather with vegetable tanned leather sole
• Comes in a range of sizes from lady’s 4 – men’s 15
• Decorative stitch around the top with linen thread.
• Full Sizes only, Women should round down, Men round up for 1/2 size.
• Optional Lugged, anti-slip or crepe soles are NOT available for the Vlaardingen Viking Turn Shoes.

Add On: Shoe is slippery on slick surfaces.

• Try applying Sure Walkers from Cadillac Shoe Products, Inc. to add more traction safely.
• Waterproof with Sno-Seal
• Leather Care with Mink Oil
• Insole Inserts to provide the most comfortable experience.

Returns and Exchanges: You may return the Vlaardingen Viking Turn Shoes for absolutely any reason within 30 days of receipt for your choice of an exchange for different size or style, store credit or refund. See my Returns and Exchanges policy.

Care Instructions: Click Here to view care instructions for the Vlaardingen Viking Turn Shoe.

Historical Accuracy:  Extant examples are the Vlaardingen, Holland, (Het Waaigat site, 1991) low cut shoe with a decorated edge from the 9th – 10th Century and a parallel shoe from Gdansk, Poland (Wiklak 1960), classified as a one-piece upper with thong fastening.  The sole rises at the heel forming a triangle characteristic of the Viking Age.

Note:  Vlaardingen Viking Turn Shoes are found in equal distribution for both men and women!

Similar one-piece upper shoes with thong fastening are dated to the 11th Century in York and Piccadilly, England with distribution across Northern Europe to Poland and appear in the population equally for men and women.  It appears in what are considered trade towns heavily visited or occupied by Vikings.  This shoe appears in Stepping Through Time, by Olaf Goubitz on page 139 figure 8a, and the shoe is typed and cataloged in Leather and Leather-working in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York 17/16 by Quita Mould, Ian Carlisle and Esther Cameron.

Construction:  The Vlaardingen Viking Turn Shoes are constructed and sewn by hand using the historically documented methodology. (No machine stitches) (No Nails)  Linen thread is used for the edge to edge seam to connect the leather of the single piece upper shoe and uses the edge/flesh seam to attach the shoe to the hard vegetable tanned sole.  Decorative reinforcing stitch uses linen thread.  The shoe is constructed inside out and turned right side out as the last step, and that is how they get the type name of “turn shoe.”